Tuesday, January 20, 2015

...[T]he service of God and the service of man are the meaning, horizon, and goal of theological work. This goal is no gnosis floating in mid-air and actually serving only the intellectual and aesthetic impulse of the theologian. It is neither a gnosis of a speculative and mythological kind like that of the major and minor heretics of the first centuries, nor a gnosis of a historical-critical kind like that which began to flourish in the eighteenth century as the sole true theological science and which today is preparing to celebrate, if appearances do not deceive, new triumphs. If the proclamation or adoration of strange gods lurks behind the first kind of gnosis, skepticism or atheism lurks behind the second. After his fashion, Franz Overbook no doubt was right when he pursued the way of this modern gnosis to its end and became wholly disinterested in theology as service. Although a member of the faculty of theology, he wanted to be and to be called, no longer a theologian at all, but--as may be read on his tombstone--only a "professor of Church history."

If theological work is not to become sterile in all its disciplines, regardless of how splendidly it may develop at one point or another, it must always keep sight of the fact that its object, the Word of God, demands more than simply being perceived, contemplated, and meditated in this or that particular aspect. What is demanded of theological work is the service of this word and attendance upon it. This may not always be its primary goal, and often it is the most remote one, but it remains its ultimate and real goal.

As a further delimitation of our theme, a second remark must be made here. Since theology is called to serve, it must not rule. It must serve both God in his Word as the Lord of the world and of the community, and the man loved by God and addressed by God's Word. It may rule neither in relation to God nor in relation to men. ...If theology is not ashamed of the Gospel, it does not need to excuse itself to anyone for its own existence. It does not need to justify its actions before the community or the world, either by constructing philosophical foundations or by other apologetic or didactic devices. Precisely because of its character as service, theological work should be done with uplifted head or not at all!

Monday, January 12, 2015

As the title suggests, this is part two of a series on Psalm 34. My thoughts continue from a previous post, starting at verse 8.8. O taste and see that Yahweh is good; happy are those who take refuge in Him.9. O fear Yahweh, you His holy ones, for those who fear him have no want.10. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek Yahweh lack no good thing.11. Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.12. Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good?13. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.14. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.15. The eyes of Yahweh are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.16. The face of Yahweh is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the land.

This section also seems to stand out on its own within the Psalm, being entirely proverbial and didactic in its presentation, unlike the first seven verses. Interestingly, verses 17 through 22 mirror much of the first section's themes, so I suspect that because verses 8-16 are central to the structure of the Psalm, they might also be of central importance for understanding David's theology of praise.

The opening words of this section are interesting. "Taste and see" Yahweh's goodness, David says. Much can be said about experiencing God's goodness in such practical ways as tasting and seeing, but this phrase especially reminds me of Israelites literally tasting and seeing Yahweh's goodness (although, admittedly, there are other ways of viewing such metaphors). This reminds me of Israelites tasting the peace offerings and seeing the ministry of God's servants within the courtyard of His House. There, in the midst of Israel, the people of Israel could flee for refuge and literally taste and see Yahweh's goodness. If such a regular and personal encounter with God in His Tabernacle is in the background of David's metaphor, this adds another dimension to the Psalm.

David wrote this Psalm with the events of Achish in mind, yet David was not in Moses' tabernacle at that time (David is describing past events which took place in a Philistine territory named Gath), nor was Moses' tabernacle a central place of worship after David returned to Israel with the Ark. As David reminisces upon that past, his theology of drawing near to God is apparently not limited to a physical building or sanctuary. There in the city of Gath David "took refuge" in Yahweh himself as though the physical, earthly tabernacle was symbolic of a much more real place. Refuge could be found in that tabernacle--the true tabernacle where Yahweh dwells--regardless of the physical, earthly structure's condition (which was in disrepair since the Philistines took the Ark).

David also makes some remarkable promises in this Psalm. David says that "those who fear him have no want," and "those who seek Yahweh lack no good thing." He also says that "The eyes of Yahweh are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry... [but] The face of Yahweh is against evildoers...." To be sure, I think it's important to receive great comfort and assurance from passages such as these; however, I suspect that many people who read these passages overlook David's point. Many people might skip over what David meant by "fearing" Yahweh and merely find comfort by applying such promises to those who are "righteous" and who "seek" Him. In other words, it might be a mistaken presumption to pair together those who "seek" God with those who are constituted "righteous" (likewise, those who are constituted "righteous" might be mistaken for those who "seek" God). But it seems to me that, in this context, fearing Yahweh and seeking Yahweh go hand in hand just as much, especially if one is to receive personal comfort and assurance that is not in vain. Notice the qualification David himself provides about those whose cries are actually heard and accepted by Yahweh (and not just prayed at Yahweh, and rejected by Him): those people are seen by God as "righteous," and such "righteousness" is not at all described as "imputation" of a legal verdict (as those in Reformed theological circles might suggest). Those who are "righteous" are those who fear (not just those who seek) Yahweh.

What then does it mean to fear Yahweh?

David goes on to explain this in the following verses. David says he will teach what the fear of Yahweh looks like. He begins by asking the question, "Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good?" This is obviously a rhetorical question designed to teach what the fear of Yahweh is supposed to look like. Everyone wants to enjoy life, and the whole notion of enjoying peace, freedom, security, and the other good blessings of life are coveted by all people. Such were the particular promises given to Israel too. If they loved and obeyed Yahweh, His covenant blessings, such as "many good days" to enjoy, would attend their life. But David follows through with this additional note of clarification:

"[Then] keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it."

Here the "fear" of Yahweh looks like something particular, something Godly. Fearing Yahweh means desiring the life He wants us to live, the life which keeps its speech away from evil and deceit, and pursues good, seeking peace (presumably in both word and action). Fearing Yahweh means respecting God's desire for our lives, and respecting His authority over our lives. If He loves us, He will chasten us for our sins of speaking evil and deceit, the kind of hateful and foolish behavior which harms our neighbor's reputation and livelihood. The eyes and ears of Yahweh are on the righteous because the righteous are fearing Yahweh in these ways. Those who seek Yahweh lack no good thing because because they are seen by Yahweh as those who fear Him, those who seek peace and pursue it because they know that pleases Him, and they also know that life under his love is a life of many good days. But the face of Yahweh is against those who devise evil in their heart, those who speak deceit and promote evil; those who sow seeds of strife and cultivate enmity.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, the Greater David, teaches against this sort of thing too. "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder', and yet whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother without cause will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the fiery Gehenna."

Jesus even endorses the kind of ethos which David seems to be describing in this Psalm. Again, Jesus said "first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (to God). Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge...". In other words, fear God. Seek peace and pursue it. Depart from evil and do good. If you are angry with your brother without a just cause, yet you are pleading to God for deliverance from trials and afflictions, don't be surprised if your cries to Yahweh for deliverance are not heard. Learn that God sets his face against evildoers; so don't pursue evil; flee from it. Don't sow presumptuous seeds of strife, and don't use your knowledge of God's commandments (i.e. "Thou shalt not murder") as an excuse to sow discord among brethren, even if your brother appears to be guilty of a lawless deed (like rumors of murder). You should seek peace and pursue it. As saint Paul says in Romans 12:18, "so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people."

Friday, January 2, 2015

Today is January 2nd, 2015, and in this post I would like to share some of my thoughts about the assigned Psalm for morning prayer today, Psalm 34. In order to spare my audience from this appearing like a tome, in this post I'm just going to comment on one section of this chapter that stood out to me this morning. I also intend to post more thoughts on other sections in the future.

[A Psalm] Of David.
When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek,1 who drove him away, and he
left.

1. I will bless Yahweh at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2. My soul makes its boast in Yahweh; let the humble hear it and be glad.

3. O magnify Yahweh with me, and let us exalt his name together.

4. I sought Yahweh, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

5. Look to Him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.

6. This poor soul cried, and was heard by Yahweh, and was saved from every trouble.

7. The Angel of Yahweh encamps around those who fear him, and delivered them.

This section seems to stand out on its own within the Psalm, and also seems to be a personal testimony of David about Yahweh delivering him from troubles in a time of great distress and fear of what Achish, king of the Philistines, could have done to him (I Sam. 21:10-15).2 One of the aspects of this Psalm that interests me is the way David begins to speak. His focus is
not entirely upon himself, or even his own joy. It seems as though David considered his own personal praise to be, first and foremost, an inadequate expression of the praise that Yahweh is worthy of. Yahweh delivered him, which is what this Psalm addresses (as the opening title states), but Yahweh's deliverance is worthy of far more praise than he alone--or any single person--can offer. All of God’s people are then encouraged by David to praise Yahweh together. From another angle, it is also true that the people ought to rejoice in David's deliverance because David had become Yahweh's anointed king, Saul's successor, and his deliverance ensured future hope for the kingdom of God.

Even more interesting, perhaps, is the allusion to Moses' encounter with Yahweh at Sinai, whose face became radiant upon His visitation. (I recognize that translations differ in this verse.) Perhaps David's exhortation to "Look to [Yahweh] and be radiant" is a counter example to the shame which Israel encountered as the glory of Yahweh came down Sinai to them (in the face of Moses, to confront them for their sins in worshipping a golden calf). That is, without any further reflection, the first thought which comes to my mind. If this was David's intended allusion, then not only could the people of Israel remember the shame they felt upon seeing Yahweh's radiance in Moses' face, but even more to the point, David would likely be portraying himself as one who, like Moses, was visited by Yahweh and was comforted, not destroyed; one whose face became radiant, and not ashamed; and if Israel would follow after that example of David, as they should have with Moses, not being found committing lawlessness as they were at Sinai, they too could look upon Yahweh's face and be radiant.

Finally, the promise that the Angel of Yahweh will encamp around "all those who fear Him" is interesting. Upon reading it I was immediately reminded of Yahweh's message to Israel at Sinai in Exodus 23:20 (LXX):

Behold, I Myself am sending an angel before your face in order to guard you on the way, that He may lead you into the land that I have prepared.

Such an allusion is particularly fitting in David's situation because Yahweh's promise in Exodus 23 referred to Israel's future hope of conquest within the promised land (a conquest which had not been completed until David captured Jerusalem, brought the ark back to Israel, and built a permanent Temple in that city). If David was alluding to Yahweh's promise in Exodus 23, then his message of personal deliverance was also, again, rooted in a concern for the whole kingdom of God's people. His focus was not on God receiving praise from him alone, but rather the praise due to His name, a praise that is offered up by all those who fear Him. And as the next sections of this Psalm show, "fearing" God has less to do with emotions (terror, trembling, awe, reverence. etc.) and more to do with an ethos which pleases God. In the context of this Psalm, those who "fear" God are doing specific things that they know are pleasing to Him (i.e. "keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." vv. 13-14). I am personally convinced that David was trying to inspire Israel to good character and good worksso that their praise and hope for Yahweh's deliverance would never be in vain.

I will post more of my thoughts on the next section of this Psalm in the future.

1.Abimelek was a title among Philistine kings, much like "Pharaoh" was a title among Egyptian kings.2. Compare the title of the Psalm with the names mentioned in 1st Samuel 21.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Rejoice. Pray. Give-thanks. Do not quench. Do not
despise. Test. Hold-firmly. Hold-back. Try repeating those verbs out loud a few
times. (No, seriously, try it.)

Rejoice. Pray. Give-thanks.

Do not quench. Do not despise.

Test. Hold-firmly. Hold-back.

Perhaps, as you spoke those words out loud, you noticed that
Paul gives three positive commands,
followed by two negative commands,
followed by another set of three positive
commands. Each set of commands fits together as one unit, and each of those
units fit into each other, forming a neat symmetrical structure.1 This structure is a neat little way to illustrate
that Paul knew exactly what he was saying. His closing thoughts were well
thought through, organized, and intentional. He said things in such a way that
there really should not be room for doubt or debate as to what he meant. But of
course, we do anyway. We doubt at least a little bit because Paul didn’t simply say “Rejoice.” He said
rejoice always. He said give thanks in all circumstances. He said test all things, and hold-back from every sight of evil. Once we hear such
penetrating and seemingly unqualified instructions for the Church, we want to
ask questions like, ‘Did Paul really
mean to rejoice always?’ ‘Am I really
supposed to be praying constantly, or
to be giving thanks in everything?' As
I am going to contend in this message, I think the answer is “yes.” I think
that set of commands was meant to be understood exactly as we find it today;
and that set of commands were not just the will of God for the Christians in Thessalonica,
to whom Paul wrote (1 Thess. 5:18), but they also remain valid commands for the
Christians today.

But I’m willing to bet that doesn’t clarify things for us
very much. Such unqualified terms do not, in fact, help us understand why Paul
would gave such broad, sweeping commands and actually expected people to honor
them.

Fortunately the lectionary readings assigned for today help us make sense
of this. In our old testament reading, Isaiah preached about the
gospel of God coming to visit His people and to deliver them from exile. It begins
with a familiar poetic proclamation, something Jesus used to describe his own
ministry as he read from the lectionary in a synagogue in galilee (Luke 4:16-20):

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to
bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of
the Lord’s favor

Isaiah, of course, is the one who spoke those words
originally; and if you were living in Isaiah’s generation, and listening to him
say those words, you might have thought he was referring to himself. But he
wasn’t. He was referring to someone else, someone coming after him, whose
sandal he was not worthy to untie.

There is something else peculiar about this message from
Isaiah, which Jesus quoted with regard to Himself. Isaiah’s prophecies of
salvation are always accompanied by messages of judgment. They are, in fact,
messages of salvation through
judgment; and Jesus stops his quotation of this passage at the very end of the
salvation portion. Jesus stops right before the Isaiah passage talks about
God’s judgment—about the Day of vengeance, a day not at the end of human
history, but at a time when God would come down to judge Israel for her sins, sending them into exile and destroying Jerusalem for the empire of idolatry it would eventually become. Such messages of salvation
proclaimed through the mouth of Isaiah could hardly be taken as “good
news” if his own generation and the city of Jerusalem would first have to endure God's judgment. So God’s promise in the days of Isaiah was not simply that God would come
and save Israel. God’s message to Isaiah's generation was primarily one of judgment
for everyone who would not repent and turn to God, and be saved through it. Yet, somewhat enigmatically, this means that the salvation
promised by God would have to come at a later time, to the people of God sent into
exile after Jerusalem was destroyed. This means that if you happened to be living in Isaiah’s time, you would not have lived
to experience the glorious deliverance that God had promised. That generation could not have experienced the salvation
Isaiah described because it didn’t occur
in Isaiah’s time. It occurred much later.

It doesn’t take much to realize that such a message does not
appear to be good news, at either the
first, second, or fifth glance. But it was, in fact, good news. It was good
news to the people who trusted in God’s faithfulness, those who prepared their hearts to endure through God's judgment upon Israel; and it was also good news to the generation who lived through
Israel’s second exodus—their return
from Babylonian captivity. If you study the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, God’s
promises through Isaiah were most certainly promises of good news. At the time
of Ezra and Nehemiah—roughly 500 years before Christ was born—God had done far more
than simply proclaim liberty to his
people held captive in Babylon; He had actually given them liberty to return to
Jerusalem and re-build the House of the Lord, i.e. His Temple. He released His
people who had been held prisoners in a foreign land so that they could
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor back in Jerusalem.

From our Psalm reading today (Psa. 126), we learned a little
about how the people of God felt at that time, when they returned from
Babylonian captivity:

When the Lord
brought back the captive ones of Zion,

We were like those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter

And our tongue with joyful shouting;

Then they said among the nations,

“The Lord has
done great things for them.”

The Lord has
done great things for us;

We are glad.

Restore our captivity, O Lord,

As the streams in the South.

Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,

Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his
sheaves with him.

With all of Israel’s future talk (in these Psalms) about the greatness of God in restoring
them from captivity, the people probably expected the prophecies of Isaiah to
have reached their fulfillment. In other words, if you were an Israelite in the
days of Ezra and Nehemiah, you probably would have thought that God’s ultimate
promises for His kingdom had now come to fruition. You might have thought that
the end was near and it was only a matter of time before God would make all
things new again. However, there would have been one significant dilemma for those who held that belief. No
matter how close one looks at that period in Israel’s history (i.e. Ezra,
Nehemiah, etc.), what will not be
found is a record of the Lord returning
to His House, the Temple. The people returned, but the glory of the Lord did
not.

You see, when God gave Israel plans to construct His House
in the wilderness, at Sinai, He showed up and made His glorious presence known.
He didn’t just give His people instructions to build a House for Himself and
then sneak into His throne-room quietly in the middle of the night. To the
contrary, the Lord descended in a glorious cloud onto the tabernacle (Exod.
40:34-35) just as He did onto Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:18-20). There, in the
presence of everyone, YHWH shook the earth and sat down on His throne in the
Most Holy Place, seated on the Cherubim above the ark of the covenant (I Sam.
4:4; Psa. 80:1; 99:1; Isa. 37:16; Ezek. 1). The Lord also showed up when
Solomon finished building the Temple in Jerusalem. The shekinah glory descended
upon the Temple and the arrival of His glorious presence is given extra special
attention in those passages of Scripture (II Chron 7:1-3). But the glorious
appearance of the Lord did not occur in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah after
Israel’s return from Babylonian captivity; and the glory of the Lord would not appear
again until a man name John started baptizing Israelites in the wilderness.

We read a little about that in our lectionary assignments for today. It’s interesting that we are only given a very small amount of
information about who John the Baptist was, and perhaps even more interestingly, John’s gospel
makes a special point to tell us emphatically who John was
not (1:6-8). John was not the light of the world. But he was a lamp with
just enough brightness to be noticed; and because the world of Jesus' day was so dark and gloomy, when the Jewish authorities saw
John’s light the first thing they wanted to know was if he was the promised
Messiah. This confirms what I have already said: the Jews themselves understood
that God’s promises in Isaiah and other prophets were not yet fulfilled, and
that the glory of the Lord had not yet returned to His Temple to rule and
restore all things as promised.

Now fast forward to Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian church.
In 1st Thessalonians, Paul was writing to Gentiles who had received
the Spirit of God because the glory of God
had finally returned. God had returned, in the flesh, to restore not just
Israel, but the whole world from its
bondage. Paul spoke as one who believed that
kingdom-building project throughout the whole world was well underway—that God
had come down in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth and was now, after his
resurrection, working powerfully by His Spirit to build a new and glorious
Temple not just in the earth, but of the earth, of the whole earth. Jesus came to make all things new, not just some things new. The scope of His salvation was cosmic. He came to build up all the ancient ruins, raise up all the former devastations of many
generations, and to plant oaks of righteousness across the globe (Isa. 61:3-4).
Paul saw a forest of God’s
righteousness and praise springing up before all nations as Isaiah and the
other prophets had spoken. That is the background of Paul’s commands at the end
of 1st Thessalonians. Paul understood that God was up to something
He had never done before—something far more powerful, and influential, and
lasting than the kingdom-building projects of Israel’s early days.

Now, as you read through the commands of Paul at the end of
1st Thessalonians, allow that vision to permeate the way you view
what has been said. Paul said, rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks
in everything, for this is the will of God for you all who are in Jesus the
Messiah. Do not quench the flame of
the Spirit working throughout the world. Do not
despise the words of prophets who confirm this glorious temple-building project
of God; but rather, test all things, hold-firmly to what is beautiful, and hold-back
from every sight of evil; and may the God of peace, Himself, sanctify you all
completely; and may the complete spirit, soul, and body of you all be kept
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

Paul knew that the glorious faithfulness of God had been
manifest for the whole world to see. Paul had seen it with his own eyes, and
heard about it from distant lands far beyond what he had ever traveled, and that
is why Paul could confidently say to the Thessalonians, “Faithful is He who
calls you, and He will bring it to pass”
(I Thess. 5:24).

The Spirit’s powerful work in Paul’s day is something we too
should be encouraged by and hopeful for as we wait upon the Lord this Advent
season. That same Spirit which spoke through prophets and spread the gospel
through Paul’s world was the same exact Spirit who empowered men, women, and
children all over the globe to rejoice always,
to pray constantly, and to give
thanks in every circumstance; and it
is that same exact Spirit of rejoicing, thanking, testing, and self-control which
continues the kingdom-building project of the Messiah today. Christ Jesus is still
making His name known among all the nations today by the work of that same
Spirit in Paul’s day, and all who see the Spirit’s work inus—watching us test
all things carefully, holding firmly to what is beautiful, and holding back
from what is evil—they see the God of peace sanctifying the world through us. As Isaiah prophesied, they
see that we are a people whom the Lord has blessed (61:9). It is because we are
truly blessed by the Spirit of God that we can always rejoice and in every
circumstance give thanks.

One important way in which the Church has always rejoiced
and continuously gives thanks is by celebrating the Eucharist. Even the word
“Eucharist” means “to give thanks.” It is also the word Paul used in our
reading today where he told the Thessalonians to “give thanks.” It is here, in
the Eucharist, where the Church learns to rejoice, where our tongues are trained
for thanksgiving. Here we gather together in “Eucharist”—in thanksgiving—for
the gifts of bread and wine, for the gifts of Jesus’ body and blood. Here we
hold firmly onto the beautiful gospel made food. So come to the Lord’s Table
today and rejoice! Taste and see that
the Lord is good.

* * * * * *

O Heavenly Father, who has filled the world with beauty.
Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that, rejoicing
in the cosmic scope of renewal which you have begun through Christ in his first
advent, we would learn to serve you with gladness always, holding firmly to
what is beautiful, and holding back from every sight of evil; for the sake of
him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

1. The structure looks like this:

A) Rejoice always

B) Pray constantly

C) Give thanks in everything,

D) for this is the will of God for you all who are in Jesus the Messiah.

E) Do not quench the Spirit

E') Do not despise the words of prophets

A') Test all things

B') Hold-firmly to what is beautiful

C') Hold-back from every sight of evil,

D') and may the God of peace—Himself—sanctify you all completely; and may the complete spirit—soul and body—of you all be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Good introduction by Escalante. The first two essays by Bratt were very insightful, using Kuyper as a principled model of christian activism. The third essay by Hutchinson was tediously arranged with copious amounts of Latin, but insightful. Perhaps it's best to summarize Escalante's introduction as witty, Bratt's essays as ennobling, and Hutchinson's essay as brain candy for christian literature nerds and ethicists.

Moving on to other contributors in the book, Dr. Tuininga wrote a good, but somewhat "soft" essay about John Calvin's eschatology. Fulford's essay about Calvin's views pertaining to resistance against tyrants was outstanding.

O'Donnell's essay about Scott Oliphant's critique of Bavinck--particularly Bavinck's cognitive foundation for philosophy--was really disappointing, actually. I was particularly bothered by some cheap shots at Van Til's epistemology (Oliphant being a defender of Van Til) because even if Oliphant's semantics are not as precisely delineated as O'Donnell prefers them to be, Van Til did, in fact, address O'Donnell's concerns. See Van Til's Apologetic (by Greg Bahnsen) for further clarification about the way in which Van Til intentionally did not adopt classical epistemological distinctions to limit what he believed to be a better and more Scripturally justified epistemology. (That is not to say that Van Til didn't utilize classical philosophical distinctions at all either; he just didn't limit his own explanation of scriptural language and concepts by those classical distinctions.) So O'Donnell makes some simple mistakes concerning charges against Van Til, especially as he (O'Donnell) claims Van Til related the principle of "Sola Scriptura" with epistemology [e.g. O'Donnell, p. 151, implies this about Van Til's apologetic: that "Sola Scriptura is ...the principium unicum for all knowledge theological or otherwise." However, Van Til's apologetic was that Scripture alone is sufficient in and of itself to justify--at a foundational level--any and all necessary pre-existing conditions for rational human thought and discourse. That is to say, without the rational God of history revealed in Scripture, apologetics would not be possible epistemologically. Sola Scripura--not SOLO Scriptura--is, according to Van Til, the principium unicum for all foundations of knowledge, not "knowledge" generally, "theological or otherwise."] All of this made me suspicious about what O'Donnell overlooked or presumed concerning Oliphant's point.

In the end by beef with O'Donnell was this: He attributes to Oliphant's allegedly poor epistemology a problem of "Van Tilian hypochondria" which seemed to me to be a misunderstanding of Van Til (even if O'Donnell's assessment of Oliphant is correct).

On a more positive note, Miller's essay about the exegetical roots of VanDrunen's R2k project is absolutely outstanding. I actually consider that essay to be immensely helpful, both for its christological arguments against R2k, but also for its exegetical refutation of Kline's contribution to the R2k problem.

Auten's essay about the Rushdooney's influence upon American Christian Reconstructionist movements (in religion and politics) is also very well done. And finally, Minich's essay on infant baptism in relation to a "nature and grace" scheme was also helpful. I was not entirely convinced of Minich's arguments, myself holding a very different perspective of sacramental efficacy than him. However, considering that his Reformed-Calvinist distinctions regarding the "visible and invisible" church are very clear and minutely detailed, I'm sure they will be considered immensely valuable to future generations within that school of thought.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

In the 14th year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib
the king of Assyria waged war against the cities of Judah—including Jerusalem.
But Hezekiah, king of Judah, was not willing to surrender to the Assyrians. So
Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, sent his ambassador—the Rabshakeh—along with
a huge army to Jerusalem to intimidate Hezekiah, and to persuade the people of
God to think differently about their situation.

Once the Rabshakeh arrived outside the gates of Jerusalem,
Isaiah tells us that he addressed the people Israel with a loud voice,
informing them that their surrounding cities had been laid to waste, and that
their city was next, unless, of course, they surrendered peacefully. And if
they were to surrender peacefully, not only would they not be destroyed, but the King of Assyria would give each of them their own
fig tree and vine from which to eat and their own cistern from which to drink. By making an agreement with the King of Assyria, they would no longer need to worry about their warfare, for they would receive care by the hand of a good shepherd who leads his sheep to a new land of promise, “a land of grain and new wine, a land
of bread and vineyards” much like their own (36:10-17).

King Hezekiah had a decision to make. He and his people
could surrender to the Assyrians, or they could repent before the Lord, ask for
His help, and hope that the Lord would answer favorably according to their
prayers.

Hezekiah made the wise decision and he went into the Temple
and prayed. That night the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, and Isaiah let King
Hezekiah know that the Lord heard His prayer and was pleased with it. And in
response to his prayer, the Lord promised to end the war of the Assyrians
against them. That night the angel of the Lord would pass over Jerusalem and
plague the Assyrian armies, causing many to die and the rest to flee away from
the city.

Jerusalem was then spared. Her warfare had ended. The Lord
delivered His people once more from their enemies. Now it was time to celebrate
the Lord’s victory.

All of these events I just described are recorded in the
book of Isaiah, chapter 36-37, only a few chapters prior to our reading in
Isaiah 40. And if you were to gloss over chapters 38 and 39, at first glance the message of Isaiah 40
seems to be describing that victorious event (i.e. that event of Jerusalem’s
deliverance from Assyria). Consider how Isaiah 40 begins:

Comfort, comfort my people!says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her in iniquity is pardoned…(vv. 1-2)

Here the Lord declares that His people ought to be comforted
by His good news, and His good news is this: her warfare has ended, and the Lord has pardoned her iniquity. That
sounds like a reference to the warfare which ended in the previous story about
the King of Assyria attacking Jerusalem.

Then Isaiah hears another voice crying out:

Clear
the way for the Lord in the wilderness!

Make
smooth in the desert a highway for our God!

…Then
the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together;

For the
mouth of the Lord has spoken. (vv. 3-5)

Get yourself
up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news!

Lift
up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news! Lift it up, do not fear.

Say to
the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” (v. 9)

Because Israel’s warfare is over, now the time has come to
prepare a path for a procession of the Lord to His throne. The imagery of
paving a highway for God through the
wilderness is reminiscent of Israel’s exodus from bondage in Egypt, when
God first claimed Himself as Israel’s King and carried them into the promised
land. In chapters 36 & 37, we found a “Passover” theme: The people were in bondage and the angel of the Lord passed over His people, striking down all of Israel's enemies. Here in chapter 40, we find a clear “Exodus” theme. Here we see God leading His
people in a victorious procession through the wilderness and into the promised
land.

However, as I said a few moments ago, if you were to read Isaiah 36-37 and then gloss over chapters
38-39, Isaiah 40 seems to be describing that victorious event mentioned in 36-37. But Isaiah
is not actually talking about Israel’s deliverance from the King of Assyria.
And we know this because of chapters 38-39. In those chapters, Isaiah tells
us a strange little story that doesn’t appear to be very important until we
connect it with the message of chapter 40.

In chapters 38-39 Isaiah tells us that King Hezekiah
became very sick and when the king of Babylon heard he was sick, he visited him
and brought him lots of gifts; and Hezekiah not only accepted his gifts, he
expressed his gratitude to the King of Babylon by giving him a tour through all
of Jerusalem and even inside the Lord’s Temple, showing him all his treasures
(Isa. 39). That action of Hezekiah provoked the Lord, and so the Lord sent Isaiah to give an
important message to Hezekiah:

Behold,
the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your
fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing
shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from
you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in
the palace of the king of Babylon. (39:5-7)

And take special notice of Hezekiah’s following response as well (39:8). Then Hezekiah
responded to Isaiah saying,

“The
word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” (For he thought, ‘There will be
peace and security in my days.’)

This rise and fall of King Hezekiah, and God’s promise to
send his people into exile in Babylon, is the background of our reading today
from Isaiah (40:1-11). If we were to skip over Isaiah’s brief mention of Hezekiah’s
sickness (Isa. 39), we would be missing out on the fact that this great promise
of comfort was not supposed to be fulfilled in the days of Hezekiah, even though many people of Israel probably thought it was. Isaiah's proclamation of God's promise was for a future
generation, long after the destruction of Jerusalem and Israel's exile to Babylon.

Even Isaiah seems to have believed God’s word of comfort was
too good to be true. He hears a voice telling him to cry out God’s good news,
but he doesn’t know if God’s message really is good news for his generation. “What shall I cry out?” Isaiah asks, for “all
flesh is grass and all of its loyalty is like a flower of the field.” Isaiah
knows that the people of Israel in his generation were not loyal to God.
“Surely the people are grass,” Isaiah says. And just as surely as the people
are grass who will fade away by the breath of the Lord,so shall the word of the Lord stand firm. The
days were coming when Jerusalem and the glories of its Temple would be carried away to Babylon, and
nothing would be left; all would be destroyed, and the people of Israel would be taken captive to Babylon too.

Now, at this point you might be wondering what all of this
has to do with Advent.

Advent is a season
when we—people of God—are called to wait upon the Lord to enter our lives
again. And as we wait up Him we’re supposed to be preparing ourselves for His
coming by repenting of our sins and by meditating upon His promises.

But what has God
promised for us? What has God promised that we need to be preparing ourselves
to receive?

Perhaps it’s best to
answer those questions by imagining ourselves as the people of God in Isaiah’s
day. Are we that much different than them? Are the people of God today much
different than the flowers of the field in Isaiah’s day? When the Lord
speaks to us—His people—addressing our foolishness directly, just as He did
with His people in Isaiah's day, what is our response? Even when Hezekiah
received a warning from the Lord directly, all he seemed to care about was
peace and security while he was alive. Are our ways of thinking
much different than Hezekiah's? Are we willing to sacrifice our time,
energy,and petty inconveniences to
ensure greater peace and security for the next generation, or do we care more
about having peace and security in our own lifetime at the expense of future generations?

When we want God to
come to our rescue, of course then we pray fervently to Him, and we
teach our children to pray too. When
we need rescuing, then we wait attentively for Him to respond
favorably to our prayers; but let's be honest: when God graciously delivers us
from our sins, our tendency is to go right back to where we were before, to our
old foolish ways. And to make matters worse, sometimes we don’t even
seem to care much about what happens to the next generation because of our
foolish sins. We care far more about what happens to us. We care far
more about having peace and security in our lives, even if that means a
future generation of God’s people would suffer from our foolish decisions
today.

So what message should
we be crying out? What message should we be crying out in a generation like
ours, whose loyalty is like a flower of the field that fades away with every
gust of wind?

The answer to that question
comes from our Gospel reading today (Mark 1:1-8). John the Baptist referred to
this prophecy of Isaiah as confirming his ministry of baptism, which means that
Isaiah’s message of hope was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus and in John’s
baptism of Jesus. Jesus was the one of Isaiah’s prophecy for whom a highway was
to be cleared, and John’s baptism was the way that highway to Jesus was paved.
Jesus was the one for whom even the mountains of Johns world were to make room.
Jesus was the one whom the people of Israel needed to repent before and receive
forgiveness. Jesus was the Word of comfort for Israel.

But Jesus wasn’t
simply the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. Jesus was and is the
glory of God revealed for all “flesh” to see (Isa. 40:5), therefore Jesus is
the one for whom even the mountains of our world need to make room. Our world
has mountains of pride, valleys of despair, crooked places of perversion, rough
places of bitterness, but Jesus comes as our Word of comfort and paves a
highway for us. He is the one who pays the penalty for our iniquity and
delivers us from exile. His body, into which we have been baptized, is the
Temple he destroyed and raised to life again. Jesus is the name above all names
that we lift up without fear before the world, saying “Behold your God!”

Jesus is also the one
who makes good on his promises as the King of kings. Jesus is the one who rules
over all nations and subdues our enemies under His feet, declaring and end to
our warfare. Jesus is the one who calls us to lay down our carnal weapons of
warfare and surrender to His rule; and by surrendering to Him, he promises to
fulfill His word as our good Shepherd, leading us to rest in his good land, a
land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

And as we learned in
our Epistle reading for today (2 Peter. 3:8-15a, 18), Jesus is not slow to
fulfill this promise to us either. Rather, he is patient toward us, not wishing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Therefore, this is the
message we ought to be proclaiming: Come to Jesus for your warfare to
end and your iniquity to be pardoned. Repent and be baptized for the
forgiveness of your sins. Confess your sins and surrender yourself unto God,
then accept His invitation to feast on the grain and vineyards of His good
land. Feast on the bread and wine which your King has prepared for you this day
at His Table, so that you may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.

* * * * * *

Heavenly Father, stir up your power, and with great might come among
us; and, because we are greatly hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace
and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with
you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.